RUSSIAN CIRCLES
VENUE METRO, CHICAGO ILLINOIS
DATE 12/11/2022
Winter is coming. This is hardly a revelation in Chicago, but the air has grown frosty earlier than usual. Not that it matters to the queue outside Metro. There are no complaints, only smiles of anticipation. We will be warm soon enough. Russian Circles have returned to their hometown, and they will have everyone heated up from what comes from the stage and into our ears very shortly.
The post-rock band are promoting their latest work, Gnosis, and they waste no time easing us into the performance. They come out swinging to Ó Braonáin and rock straight into two more new songs, Betrayal and Conduit. Their music is aggressive and it hits hard, but the audience is ready to receive it. Everyone on and offstage are tuned into one another and it feels like we’re witnessing something really special.
Although they’re a trio, there’s far more sound coming from the stage and it’s positively huge. Guitarist Mike Sullivan establishes the mood quickly with his chunky riffs, while bassist Brian Cook thunders away with a tone that hits everyone directly in the chest. Drummer Dave Turncrantz is the glue holding everything together; his kick drum is being struck with fury and his snare drum cracks with the kind of intensity that’s probably being heard at Wrigley Field, the Major League baseball stadium nearby.
We’re given a chance to breathe when they play Afrika. There’s more of an ethereal post-rock vibe here, but it doesn’t last. Arluck gives Turncrantz a moment to riff before Cook joins him. Russian Circles do a spectacular job of turning a trio into what sounds more like a quintet by using loops to propel the sound forward via musical counterpoint and Cook brings bass pedals into play while he joins Sullivan on guitar. Prog can’t help but thrill at what’s taking place.
The arrangements are tight and well executed, and they also do a great job of presenting their back catalogue – just four of the 10 songs played come from Gnosis. Despite the band’s heaviness, touching melodies sneak through the din and pull at our heartstrings. They’re practically hummable even as the massive sound dominates the room.
And while Sullivan makes the most of two-hand tapping, he doesn’t run the old guitar “trick” into the ground. Each arrangement gives the song what it needs and no more.
The set is well-paced and doesn’t fall into monotony, which would be quite easy to do. It’s a wonderful evening.
One fan probably speaks for the entire audience when he yells out, “Can we hear that again?” No doubt his request could be about the entire set and no one would mind. The hour-plus show flies by far too quickly. We’re warm now. Winter can wait.